Ghosts of cars past still haunt driver
WHY DO THEY THINK I STILL OWN THAT CAR?
Chuck Scheib emails that even though he removes the license plate from vehicles he has sold and takes it to an MVD office, “I have on several occasions received a letter from the www. driveinsured.com folks in the name of the NM-MVD asking for verification of insurance after a vehicle was long gone.”
Even worse, “I have had an experience that a vehicle that I had sold and removed the plate and turned it in to MVD immediately was later ticketed several times in another city — in my name no less — after the vehicle left my property. The ticketing officer used the VIN to track myself down.”
So what, exactly, is required when you sell a vehicle?
Ben Cloutier, director of communications for the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, which oversees MVD, says, “By law drivers are required to notify the MVD of a vehicle sale by providing a completed MVD -10048 NOTICE OF VEHICLE SOLD form. Drivers are also required to provide the old plates to the MVD to be destroyed or to apply to have the plate and registration number assigned to another vehicle. When this process is followed, the information is recorded and law enforcement are able to accurately verify the through our insurance database.”
Tom Hill of Los Alamos emails he wonders that because “I often see signs on the highways ‘Damaged Guardrail Ahead,’ even if there’s only a slight dent in the guardrail that shouldn’t compromise safety. Is there any sensible rationale for the time and effort to post these signs?”
Bell says, “The key word in your question is safety. NMDOT considers roadway safety a top priority. When a guardrail or attenuator (guardrail end treatment) is damaged, we alert motorists by placing signs, barrels or other traffic control (TC) devices that there is damage ahead and that the roadway feature may not, temporarily, perform as designed.
“These safety devices identify that we recognize the roadway structure is damaged and it has been scheduled to be repaired or replaced. Cosmetic damage to a guardrail does not require signs or TC devices; however, when a guardrail is damaged, a passing motorist may not see the extent of the damage internally to the structure. If a structure is compromised, it is our priority as the department of transportation to address it.” N.M. 448 NEEDS SOME TLC: C.S. emails, “State Road 448 through Corrales is in dire need of repair for potholes and large cracks. After those are repaired, the highway needs a new overlay to improve and upgrade the drivability.”
Bell says, “The DOT will continue to pothole patch and crack seal the areas on N.M. 448 as needed. N.M. 448 has a high number of driveways along this route, so the pavement surface would need to remain at same elevation as it stands now, making an overlay option more costly.”
But there’s “another option ... to mill and repave. Based on current price agreements this could cost anywhere from $2.3 (million) to $2.9 million. However, this would need to be balanced with all the other maintenance duties required of the department with the limited maintenance budget.”
FREE CAR-SEAT CLINIC WEDNESDAY: Expert technicians from the NMDOT and Safer New Mexico Now will be available from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to check if your child safety seat has been recalled, is expired or otherwise unsafe, as well as ensure it is installed properly and fits the child who uses it. (Installation and fit are key to the seats working.)
Take your car with the seat and the child who uses it, if possible, to Sandia Resort. Appointments — call 505-856-6143 or 800-2316145 — are not required but are encouraged.